Latest news from the Himalaya and Karakoram

Monday, 17 February 2014

If you are planning a visit to Bhutan it is well worth
considering coming during one of the tsechu (religious festivals) held annually
at most dzongs and monasteries throughout the country. The largest teschus are in Paro and Thimphu and
during these dates hotels will usually get booked up so it is best to plan your
trip well in advance.

Photo: mask dance at Paro Tsechu

The colourful religious dances of the tsechu festivals commemorate Guru Rinpoche responsible for bringing
Buddhism to Bhutan. Many of the dances were started by Shabdrung, a Tibetan Buddhist
lama, who unified Bhutan in 1634. The dances are performed by monks as well as
lay people and will bring blessings to the onlookers as well as instructing
them about the Buddhist Dharma.

The Bhutanese people attend tsechus to gain merit and to
reduce the chance of misfortune in their lives. At the same time tsechus are large social
gatherings and in more remote areas it is a chance for people to get together
as a community with everyone dressed in their finest clothing and jewellery. During
most tsechus a fair is set up outside the dzong with gambling, fortune telling and
shops.

Photo: Cham dance at Paro Tsechu

A tsechu typically lasts for three or four days. The dates
of the tsechues will vary at different dzongs throughout Bhutan and also year
to year however always take place around 10th day of the month in the Bhutanese
calendar. The highlight of the festival is the sacred Cham Dances where
the dancers are masked taking on the wrathful and compassionate deities, heroes
and demons. During the festival there are also clowns (known as atsaras) who mimic
the dancers and harass the onlookers for donations to the dzong.

On the last day of the festival a large religious painting (known
as a thondrol) depicting Guru Rinpoche will be unfurled in front of
onlookers. The thondrol will be only seen before dawn and by sunrise it is
rolled up until next year’s tsechu. It is believed that everyone who views the thondrol
will have all of their sins cleansed and washed away.

Photo: thongdrol at Thimphu tsechu

For your information I have listed the main Bhutan festival
dates for 2014 below: